Toddler raped, murdered in Gujarat's Jetpur; accused arrested

RAJKOT: A two-and-a-half-year-old girl was brutally raped and murdered, allegedly with an intention of rape, in Jetpur town near Rajkot city. The girl's body was found dumped in a plastic bag on the bank of Bhadar River passing through the town late on Thursday night.
On Wednesday, a migrant labourer saw that his infant daughter was nowhere to be seen. The family made desperate efforts to search for her but in vain. They informed the police which started a search with the help of CCTV footage of the area where they were living and others.
CCTV showed that a man, later identified as Rajesh Chauhan, had picked up the girl from the shanty in which she was staying with her family behind a sari factory.
"The girl was playing the courtyard of the house when the accused kidnapped her. He started touching her inappropriately and the girl started screaming for help. The accused then strangled her to death," Jetpur police source said.
When she died, he packed her body in a plastic bag and dumped it near Bhadar River. There were injury marks on her chest which were inflicted with heay stones, said AM Herma, inspector, Jetpur police station.
The 37-year-old accused was arrested by the police. He is a native of Bihar and is married and his family lives in his native. Police said for the last two years the accused was living in Jetpur and working in a sari unit.
The deceased has an elder brother who lives in Bihar. Her father has been working in a sari making unit for the last 10 years, police said. Herma said, "We have booked the accused for kidnapping, rape and other sections of the Pocso Act." The accused is a native of Bihar and works in sari unit for two years. He lived in the same locality as the victim's family.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)